Heartlines
by Darkshines1984
Summary: Vanessa has had a hell of a day at work. She texts Charity to cancel their plans so she can go to bed early. Charity has other ideas.
1. Chapter 1

**Heartlines**

Fandom: Emmerdale

Pairing: Charity & Vanessa

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing games with them.

Summary: Vanessa has had a hell of a day at work so texts Charity to cancel their plans, so she can go to bed early. Charity has other ideas.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Chapter 1**

Vanessa slumped back into the driver's seat of her Volkswagen Beetle, feeling utterly boneless despite the fact it was only 16.52pm. She officially finished work in eight minutes, but she was sat, parked in the muddy drive of a cattle farm a whole forty-minute drive away from home, willing herself to find the energy to turn the engine on and get moving.

It had been a hell of a day. She had been on her way to a routine equine vaccination appointment at Veronica's stud farm in the morning when an emergency call out had come through. She'd spent over an hour trying to deliver a lamb which was being born out of season. It had been a minor miracle that it had survived but any sense of achievement had been quashed when she'd arrived at the stud farm an hour and a half late.

Even though Paddy had notified Veronica of the delay it had done nothing to soften the woman's mood especially as the miserable cow was still furious at her because of the way Charity took her to pieces before Christmas. That meant that throughout the entire process of vaccinating twelve mares and giving a further four pre-breeding health checks, Vanessa had taken an earful of bitching and moaning. Then Veronica had sprung two lame horses on her to check even though they hadn't been pre-booked in (one of whom was a VERY feisty three-year-old stallion). Vanessa really wanted to tell her to piss off, but she knew Paddy wanted her to make nice, so she bit her tongue and ploughed on.

The two young grooms had looked at her sympathetically, but no one had offered her a drink or any other curtesy. So, by the time she had left it was gone one in the afternoon and she hadn't had a hot drink since breakfast. She had drove about two minutes down the road from the stud, parked up and scoffed her sandwich and bottle of water in the car. That should have been the worse part of the day over. The only thing she had booked in other than some paperwork she had to catch up with was a canine surgery she was meant to assist Rhona with later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.

In fact, she had never made Rhona's surgery. Instead she had been called out to the cattle farm she was now parked at. It was in completely the other direction from the stud farm, so she had driven for just over an hour to get there to find they had a major medical emergency. Several of the herd had Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis; a highly infectious virus that had to be treated immediately. Vanessa had helped them isolate the obviously infected animals and then treated them with long lasting antibiotics and anti-inflammatory's. It had taken all afternoon and had been physically taxing and dirty work.

Vanessa closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. She had text the sitter before she got in the car to let them know she wouldn't be picking Johnny up until six. Hopefully, by the time she'd fed and bathed him it would be his bed time. She felt bad for wanting to rush their evening together, but she really wanted an early night. The only problem was that Charity was meant to be coming around after her shift finished at eight and Vanessa doubted she would have the energy to even great her at the door never mind whatever else the other woman had planned. It pained her to do so, especially after they had only officially been girlfriends for a few days, but she was going to have to cancel. She picked her phone up off the dash and started to compose a text to Charity.

'So sorry babe but I am going to have to cancel tonight. Had the worst shift ever and don't think I will even be home till after 6. Come around tomorrow?'

Vanessa pressed send before putting the phone back down and turning the key in the ignition. If Charity was working, she wasn't likely to see the message straight away.

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Charity had just finished pulling a pint for Jimmy when her phone buzzed at the end of the bar. Chas, who was cleaning the bar, glanced over to the mobile and raised her eyebrows.

"Vanessa isn't at a gay bar again is she?" the brunette quipped.

Charity rolled her eyes at her cousin in response before casually strolling to the end of the bar. She picked up the phone and smiled when she was Ness' name on the screen. Her smile fell when she read the text though. She had been looking forward to tonight for three days; the last time they had spent time together. Charity had been on closing shifts since then and this was the first day she finished early enough to go around to the vets. It had been all planned in her head…they would have both already ate before 8.15pm but she was going to take a bottle of wine and desert with her and spend some quality time before taking the smaller woman to bed.

Charity had swapped the late shift for the early with Chas today and she doubted her cousin would do the same tomorrow as she had plans with Paddy. They were going for a meal and given all the unwanted pregnancy crap they were going through she couldn't ask them to postpone. That meant she wouldn't see Vanessa (other than a few brief moments over the bar) until Saturday unless she went around after 11.30pm tomorrow. If that was the case, then she was basically just turning up for sex and although that was all good and fun she had planned on them doing...girlfriend things.

"She hasn't dumped you already has she?" Chas asked from over her shoulder, making Charity jump slightly.

"What no?!" she exclaimed. Why did all her family members always presume she was going to mess up or fail at everything?

Chas took the phone out of her hand and read the message. A look of amusement and understanding fluttered across the brunette's face. Charity hated the fact her feelings for Vanessa had become so transparent because it made her so vulnerable. On the other hand, Chas had made several comments about how her relationship was improving her…perhaps she could use it to her advantage.

"Babe…?" she began to ask but Chas cut her off.

"Charity" the other woman whined, "It really would be nice if you actually finished a shift for once!"

She could tell that Chas was going to cave in from her half-hearted tone. Anyway, she'd done the lions share of her shift and it wasn't busy in the pub. There only needed to be two of them on now if it was full…it was mid-week, so all Chas would be doing was pulling a few pints.

"Please" Charity pleaded. "If I go around at six I can still spend some time with her…"

"Oh my god she's actually broken you" Chas cut in, raising her hand to stop Charity in her tracks.

Charity ignore the comment and kept eye contact with her cousin, waiting for her to break. Finally, Chas threw both hands up in the air in defeat. Charity's phone nearly flew out of her hand but luckily she just about held onto it before thrusting it back into Charity's own clutches.

"Go! Go on! Before I change my mind" Chas said with a chuckle.

Charity didn't need telling twice.

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Vanessa pulled up outside her house and parked up. It had just before six when she had picked Johnny up and it was now ten minutes past six. He wasn't in the best of moods, probably because he'd have normally been fed by now. The fact she stank of cattle despite the fact she had changed out of her overalls might be a factor too. She got out of the car and got him out of the car seat on the back-passenger's side. It wasn't until she closed the door that she noticed that the downstairs lights in her house seemed to be on even though she could have sworn she'd turned everything off this morning.

Obviously she hadn't, and she pushed it to the back of her mind whilst she struggled to the front door with toddler and his day bag in hand. It took three attempts to get the key in the lock and open the door. As soon as the door was open she realised that something strange was going on. Someone was in the house because there was music faintly playing and the scents of cooking food wafting from the kitchen. It didn't feel very threatening though…what thief made dinner for you? So, she headed through into the kitchen to find a familiar mane of blonde hair in the process of putting Johnny's dinner into a bowl. She put Johnny's bag down on the floor, the dull thud catching Charity's attention.

"Hey babe" Charity greeted cheerfully.

"How did you…?" Vanessa stuttered.

She had been pretty drunk the other night, but she was certain she hadn't given Charity a key to her place.

"I may have picked the lock" Charity admitted sheepishly.

Vanessa looked at the other woman, mouth slightly agape. She probably shouldn't be shocked that Charity possessed that skill, she was a Dingle after all.

"I erm…Marlon gave me some lasagne to heat for us which will take another twenty minutes. I thought I could feed Johnny whilst you get a shower…we'll eat, put him to bed…I could give you a back massage…get an early night."

The words spilled out of Charity's mouth at rapid speed, indicating the taller woman was nervous despite the confident front she tried to put on. It would have been easy for Charity to just shrug her message off and leave it another day or two to spend time together. Instead she had gone out of her way to try and make Vanessa's evening easier and improve what had been a terrible day. The vet was really touched by her actions…and only Charity could pass what was technically a criminal act off as sweet. Then it dawned on her that her girlfriend was still meant to be behind the bar working.

"Oh my god you didn't skip out on Chas again did you? She's going to start hating me!" she exclaimed.

Vanessa had wanted Charity to be jealous on the night she had gone with Robert and co to the gay bar. She had even hoped Charity would be able to join them at some point in the night. She hadn't expected the other woman to run out of work without her cousin's agreement. It had made her giddy at the time, but she didn't really fancy being the focus of Chas' wrath.

"I got permission this time I swear" Charity assured her.

"Anyway, hand him over" the taller blonde instructed, gesturing towards the toddler Vanessa still held in her arms.

The vet carried Johnny across the kitchen and placed him into Charity's open arms. Her son and her new girlfriend hadn't spent much time with her other than the odd few minutes in the morning if Charity was still around when he woke up. He seemed quite taken with the other woman though on those occasions.

As she handed him over she stretched up and pressed an affectionate peck to the taller woman's lips. Charity initially tilted her hear head and eagerly met the kiss but then pulled back with a poorly disguised look of disgust.

"I smell of cow I know" Vanessa apologised, "I'll go shower."

The Woolpack's landlady let out a low laugh and nodded her head in agreement.

"I wasn't going to say anything but yeah babe…go shower" Charity instructed.

Vanessa rolled her eyes before turning away to head off up the stairs. She was still tired, but she didn't feel anywhere near as drained as she had before entering the house. After a nice warm shower and a meal hopefully, she'd have enough energy to curl up with her girlfriend for a bit.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Heartlines**

Fandom: Emmerdale

Pairing: Charity & Vanessa

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing games with them.

Summary: Vanessa has had a hell of a day at work so texts Charity to cancel their plans, so she can go to bed early. Charity has other ideas.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Chapter 2**

Charity had only spent a few minutes here and there with Johnny on the occasional morning when she had still been at Vanessa's when he woke up. He was a similar age to Moses and just like her youngest son he had a fondness for dinosaurs. It had made it easy for her to interact with him on those occasions and he seemed to find her entertaining. Charity hoped he still liked her after she'd fed him and that he didn't play up and make her look like a disaster.

She placed him in his high chair and brought his bowl and spork over, sitting next to him on one of the dining chairs. She'd rang Tracy at the shop to find out what Johnny liked to eat, then Marlon had plated up some chicken and broccoli for her to reheat. All Charity had needed to cook from scratch was a little bit of pasta and even she couldn't mess that one up.

"Right little man" she said as she shovelled a piece of the broccoli onto the spork, "open wide."

Johnny did as he was told, opening wide so she could pop the veg into his mouth and then obediently chewed on it. Charity smiled warmly at him, impressed by how easily he ate his greens. She usually had to hide most vegetables by blending it into potato or a sauce when feeding Mosses. He finished chewing the broccoli and swallowed so she put a small piece of chicken on the spork and brought it to his lips, making a 'cho cho' train sound. He smiled broadly before opening wide again.

"Is that good?" she asked as he chewed on the meat.

Johnny nodded his head as he chewed and then opened wide again, waiting for more. She gave him another piece of broccoli. As he was chewing he reached out for the spork so she handed it over to him, so he could feed himself.

He really was quite adorable, she could see Vanessa in his features and that made her smile. Charity wondered if he and Mosses would get on. They would have to try them on a play date soon, either at Vanessa's or the pub. If her and Vanessa were going to make a go of it then the kids would be spending a lot of time together eventually. They could take them to a soft play centre, the park or the Zoo…even Noah would like the Zoo.

Charity wondered if she was letting her mind run away with her a bit too soon? She'd tried to keep Noah out of previous relationships, expecting them to fail so not wanting him to get too invested. She really wanted this to work though and she was pretty confident that Vanessa did too. Did the other woman trust her enough to get involved in each other's kid's lives just yet? Did Charity trust herself enough? After all, she was usually the one that messed things up.

"Cha-tea" Johnny tried to get her wandering attention back.

He'd stopped eating and was watching her with curiosity. She didn't realise that he knew her name (or something close to it), obviously he'd picked it up on one of the morning's. It made her smile warmly at him and he smiled back.

"Char-it-y" she said slowly, so he could try to copy it.

"Cha-tea" he repeated his first attempt.

She chuckled and reached out to ruffle his tufty hair. It wasn't the most child friendly name, at least Mosses would only have to learn 'Ness' because she imagined Vanessa would be a mouthful for a toddler.

"Yeah that'll do" she encouraged Johnny.

He gave her a huge grin before shovelling some pasta into his mouth. Half the piece fell down his front, but he chewed happily on the other half. She had no idea where his bibs were, but he was getting a bath soon, so he could make a bit of a mess.

Whilst he continued to slowly eat his meal she got up and started routing round the cupboards, so she could lay the table for her and Vanessa, making sure she returned to him regularly to tell him how well he was doing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vanessa felt wonderfully refreshed as she came back downstairs after her shower. Her hair was still damp, and she'd thrown her pyjamas on, so she could get back to her girlfriend and son as soon as possible. She could hear Charity talking to Johnny over the soft music the other woman was playing on her phone. Vanessa stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, so she could watch them both for a moment.

Charity had been busy whilst she was upstairs. The dining table was laid out for them and she had found a scented candle from the sideboard and lit it, placing it at the far end of the table away from the toddler. There was an open bottle of white wine (one that looked to nice to have come from the pub) and two glasses ready and waiting on the table.

The taller blonde was sat in the dining chair angled towards Johnny, encouraging him to eat the last of his food. They looked so comfortable together and it made Vanessa's heart thump that little bit harder in her chest. She had been thinking about suggesting they spend time with each other's kids ever since Charity had admitted she wanted a relationship with some strings attached. She had been worried it would seem too soon so had shelved the idea for a couple of weeks. Seeing Charity with her son though…it made those fears disappear.

Charity looked up from the toddler and caught sight of her. The blonde's face lit up with a huge grin and Vanessa's heart raced even faster. Charity stood up and Vanessa made her way over to the two of them. She stopped just behind Johnny and grasped the lapel of Charity's grey jacket (the same one she'd been wearing in the cellar on the night of the wake), tugging her towards her before planting a firm kiss on her lips. She rested her forehead against the taller woman's and breathed her in.

"What was that for babe?" Charity asked, her voice slightly dazed from the sudden affection.

"Because I can" Vanessa hummed.

Charity dipped her head and kissed her again but this time it was slower and softer. Vanessa tangled her fingers in blonde curly hair and pulled the taller woman as close as she could, enjoying the affection and care the kiss portrayed. As they broke the kiss Charity nuzzled her sweetly before pulling back slightly to look at her. Vanessa wasn't sure she'd ever get enough of the soft way Charity was looking at her. It was like she was something very precious.

"Cha-tea" Johnny gurgled, drawing attention back to him.

"That's a bit cute" Vanessa chuckled.

They both rounded the table, so he could see them. He clapped his hands together with joy when they came into view.

"That's a lot cute" the other woman interjected.

Johnny seemed happy to have their attention again and continued to joyfully clap his hands together. He'd ate most of the food in his bowl and seemed full. Vanessa was sure he'd have a little bit of space for a kid's yoghurt though. The toddler was currently obsessed with strawberry fromage frais. She went over to the fridge and took one out whilst Charity took the bowl from his high chair and tipped the remains in the bin. The taller woman stayed over by the oven, checking the progress of their food whilst Vanessa handed him the yoghurt.

"Sit down and I'll plate up dinner babe" Charity instructed.

Vanessa sat down next to Johnny, opposite where Charity had been sitting, and watched the taller blonde move effortlessly around her kitchen. The domesticity of it made her feel happy…light…and a little bit dizzy. She'd felt like this on the few mornings Charity had been able to hang around and have breakfast with her before returning to the Woolpack. All she'd wanted for weeks was to have more moments like that; for Charity to want to spend time with her that didn't involve them rolling around the bed (or the sofa, the stairs or the kitchen table).

"Thank you for doing this" Vanessa gushed.

Charity brought over the two plates of food for them, placing hers down first before walking round the table and placing Vanessa's in front of her. The taller blonde had prepared a salad to go with the lasagne and the smell of it all made her mouth water.

"No need to thank me babe" Charity chirped; "it's what girlfriends do right?"

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Charity had really enjoyed dinner. The two of them had laughed their way through it with Vanessa explaining her awful day and Charity recalling her own experiences of attempting to farm. She was far better suited to pulling pints than herding sheep. She respected Vanessa's job, but she could never do it. The only time she'd handled veterinary equipment she'd accidently tranquilised herself. Not that Charity planned on telling Vanessa that story any time soon considering its context.

"You should have said hi to Veronica from me" Charity quipped.

When the stud owner had been in her pub at Christmas she had tried so hard to ignore the snobby attitude for Vanessa's sake. That had all gone south when the miserable old cow had insulted the vet. Charity could take people getting at her, but Vanessa was so good…Vanessa would have just sat there and taken it. Charity couldn't stand that. So, she had ripped into Veronica and hoofed her out of the pub (pardon the pun). If Paddy hadn't interrupted them in the cellar, then she would have had a mind-blowing orgasm in reward from the vet…instead she had been left tense and frustrated.

"God no" Vanessa replied with a smile, "besides I barely got a word in edgeways."

"How dare you be so polite and nice Vanessa" Charity mimicked the stud owner with the poshest and snobbiest voice she could muster.

It made Vanessa laugh, the smaller woman nearly tipping the last bit of her wine down her front. Charity loved the way the smaller woman's blue eyes seemed to light up and twinkle when she smiled or laughed. She also got these little wrinkles around her eyes that Charity found utterly adorable. She enjoyed making Vanessa happy…it gave her a warm tingly feeling that she didn't dare name yet.

"I better trot on and take Johnny up for his bath" Vanessa quipped, "Its nearly his bed time."

The toddler had enjoyed his yoghurt as they ate their lasagne. He'd been happy to sit and listen to them talk, occasionally gurgling with joy when one of them laughed. He particularly seemed to like it when one of them mimicked a posh accent.

"Night little man" Charity cooed at the toddler.

Vanessa stood up and lifted Johnny out of him highchair, so she started to clear their plates and cutlery of the table. She brought desert too, but she was holding that back for when Vanessa came back. It would be baked cheesecake and wine in front of the TV.

"You can leave the dishes" Vanessa offered, "I'll do them when I get back down."

"Don't be daft" Charity chuckled.

She was there to make Vanessa's evening easier after a rotten day, so she wasn't leaving the washing up for her. Part of her also wanted to show that she could be good girlfriend material. As people found out they were in a relationship she had no doubt that Vanessa would get plenty of negative comments about her. Charity was determined to prove everyone wrong.

She put theirs and Johnny's stuff in the sink and started to run the hot water. Vanessa carried Johnny over to her, a warm smile on the smaller woman's features.

"I won't be long" Ness promised before stretching up and kissing her on the cheek.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Heartlines**

Fandom: Emmerdale

Pairing: Charity & Vanessa

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing games with them.

Summary: Vanessa has had a hell of a day at work so texts Charity to cancel their plans, so she can go to bed early. Charity has other ideas.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Chapter 3**

It had taken a little while and two of his favourite stories for Johnny to finally go to sleep. So, by the time Vanessa came back downstairs the dishes were done and the kitchen looked cleaner than it had when she'd left for work in the morning. The TV was on, two fresh glasses of wine and two plates of cake were waiting on the coffee table, and all she could see of Charity was her sock covered feet propped up on the arm of the sofa.

The other woman had made herself comfortable and her focus was rapt on whatever documentary she was watching. It had been a revelation one night in bed, curled up in post coital bliss and chatting, that Charity rarely got to watch any TV other than kids programmes with Moses…but when she did it tended to be documentaries. All sorts of diverse types of documentaries; historical, criminal, geographical, political. It was no wonder she was so good at crosswords.

Vanessa crept over to the back of the sofa and climbed over, catching the other woman totally by surprise when she straddled her hips. Charity let out a high pitch giggle as Vanessa dipped down towards her and softly kissed her on her lips. The giggle turned into a breathless moan at they slowly brushed their lips over each other's, enjoying the affectionate contact without escalating it into anything more passionate.

When Vanessa broke the kiss, she propped herself up using her forearms against the sofa's armrest, on either side of Charity's head.

"Hi" Charity said softly, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair back behind Vanessa's ear.

The hand came to rest on Vanessa's cheek and Charity affectionately stroked across her cheekbone with the pad of her thumb. The taller woman's other hand rested lightly on her hip.

"Hi" Vanessa repeated.

They held eye contact and the gentle affection that sparkled in Charity's green eyes made Vanessa feel breathless. Since the girlfriend conversation, every interaction between them, no matter how small, had felt more open and unguarded.

"There is cheesecake" Charity hummed.

Vanessa tilted her head to the side to look at the cake, still close enough to her girlfriend to feel Charity's breath against her cheek. It was Marlon's baked vanilla cheesecake, something Vanessa occasionally treated herself to at the Woolpack. Apparently, Charity had spotted it was a favourite of hers whilst busily pretending not to be attentive.

"Looks good" Vanessa chuckled.

She sat up, still straddling Charity, and reached for one portion of the cake and a spoon. Charity rested both hands on Vanessa's hips and drew small circles against her hip bones with the tips of her thumbs through the thin material of her stripped pyjama bottoms.

Vanessa dipped the spoon into the tip of the cake and reached down, offering it to her girlfriend. The two women kept eye contact as Charity diligently opened her mouth and took the piece of cheesecake. The taller woman slowly chewed the cheesecake whilst Vanessa spooned up a piece for herself and popped it into her own mouth. The next piece she gave to her girlfriend. The other woman had a happy smile plastered on her face as she gazed up at Vanessa. It was a broad smile with a slightly glazed expression, but her eyes held so much warmth and affection that it made Vanessa swoon.

Vanessa had noticed that Charity had started to direct this particular smile at her a lot more since admitting she cared about Vanessa that night she'd chased after her down the street from the pub to Vanessa's house. It had crept in from time to time before, usually when they were curled up together in bed after spending some 'adult alone' time together. They would chat about work, the kids, things they liked…anything really; always keeping some sort of affectionate physical contact. They had been fleeting looks, before Charity had schooled her features back to something a little more 'safe'. Recently, the looks had been more and more frequent, they occurred during normal conversations (even in public) and lingered longer.

"What?" Charity asked.

Vanessa realised that she had been sat, unmoving and gazing down at her girlfriend for quite a while. The taller blonde had finished chewing on her mouthful of cake and was watching her with interest.

"You look happy" Vanessa explained. She was careful to make it a simple statement rather than risking making the other woman feel self-conscious or defensive.

"It's good cheesecake" Charity quipped.

It was typical Charity Dingle behaviour; to use humour to deflect away any conversation about emotions. Vanessa usually let her get away with it as she knew full well what she'd signed up with the Woolpack's feisty landlady. Sometimes if she didn't push and kept quiet Charity would relent of her own accord and engage in the conversation. Luckily this was one of those occasions.

"I am happy" Charity smiled, "I'm being spoon fed desert by a beautiful woman…why wouldn't I be happy?!"

Vanessa felt heat rise in her cheeks and she was sure she was blushing. It wasn't that Charity never complimented her…in fact she said some very complimentary things in the heat of the moment…and made some very complimentary sounds. Common ones had been that she was 'hot' or 'sexy', that she was 'amazing' or 'really good' and that Charity really wanted her. She couldn't recall Charity ever describing her as beautiful before. Considering how the word had made her heart hammer in her chest she was sure she'd have remembered.

"Ohhh smooth!" Vanessa giggled.

Charity looked thoroughly smug and threw in what Vanessa considered the other woman's trademark wink. Charity managed to adapt it to many different conversations…humour, teasing, flirting…to name just a couple of examples. Vanessa usually found it quite endearing and sexy and this evening was no exception.

The vet reached out and placed the half-eaten piece of cake back on the coffee table, before shuffling down so she was lying on top of her girlfriend, propped up her upper body using her forearms again. It left them nose to nose, Charity's warm breath playing across Vanessa's lips as the taller woman's eyes darted from her eyes to her mouth and then back up again.

Vanessa nuzzled the tip of the other woman's nose with her own, keeping eye contact. Charity smiled affectionately at her and reached up, cupping the vet's cheeks in the palms of her hands. Vanessa closed her eyes as the taller blonde brushed her thumbs tenderly over the vet's cheek bones. It felt wonderful and loving. When she had woken up on a chair in the Woolpack cellar, curled around Charity Dingle after some very (good) drunken kissing…well she hadn't pictured it leading to this. She'd thought it was a bit of a disaster (albeit an enjoyable one) and gone to the Woolpack to tell Charity as much, only to end up in bed with the irresistible woman.

There had been something that night; something in the way that Charity had been careful to make sure she had Vanessa's consent, something in the way that the taller blonde had kissed her and touched her, something in the way that Charity had held her afterwards, even something in the way that Charity had made her tea the next morning; that had suggested a greater depth in Charity that she usually allowed others to see. It had scared Vanessa. The night had felt amazing…better than anything she had felt before and she'd felt something for Charity. It had made her bolt; not just literally when she awoke but she had tried to run to the nearest willing male and block it all out. It wasn't just 'gay panic' it was 'Charity panic'. It was ironic that just a few months later the only direction Vanessa wanted to run to was wherever Charity Dingle was.

"Ness?" the other woman said softly.

Vanessa opened her eyes and gazed down at her girlfriend again. She'd zoned out, lost in thought and lulled by the physical contact. Charity's eyes seemed to sparkle and Vanessa's heart raced in response. God, she had it so bad for this woman, it made her chest ache.

"Just kiss me" Vanessa replied.

The taller woman was quick to oblige, pushing upwards to meet her, whilst gently tugging the vet down towards her. Their lips met softly, brushing against each other's again and again. Vanessa deepened the kiss, slowly tracing the edge of Charity's tongue with the flat of her own. It drew a needy, high pitch moan from her girlfriend.

They broke apart briefly, only far enough apart so that their lips were no longer touching but within a hair's breadth. The vet was so exhausted, too exhausted for anything too athletic. She wanted to be close to Charity though….as close as she could get.

"I just want you to keep kissing me" Vanessa pleaded.

Charity pulled her down again, tangling one hand in her hair and wrapping the other around Vanessa's shoulders. The vet melted into her arms and let the stresses of the day wash away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They had languidly kissed for over an hour before Vanessa had curled up against her side, tangled their legs together and tucked her head into the crook of Charity's neck. She had one arm wrapped around the smaller woman's waist and Vanessa held her other hand with the arm flung across Charity's midriff. The vet's breathing was slow and even, but she could tell that the smaller woman was not asleep, just relaxed. Charity felt relaxed too, despite the fact they were both squished on the sofa.

Her lips ached and were a little swollen after all the kissing, but it was a pleasant ache. Charity had never done that before…just kissed for the sake of kissing without any other desired outcome. The closest she had come previously was in the night in the cellar with Vanessa but the only reason she hadn't expected an 'outcome' was because Vanessa was drunk, and Charity didn't want to push her any further than kissing. That night had left her so turned on that it had been hard to get to sleep. Tonight she felt thoroughly satisfied…just in a deeper more spiritual way. She felt happy, like she'd never felt before. Charity was content not to question those feelings too much for now and just enjoy them.

Ness shifted slightly and yawned into the crook of Charity's neck. It was only just gone nine, but the smaller woman was clearly exhausted. It was no surprise considering the day she'd had. Charity had noticed that Vanessa seemed to do the bulk of the call outs and it sometimes felt that Rhona and Paddy took advantage of her good nature. That time they had left her dealing with the horrible stud woman before Christmas was a prime example. It had brought out Charity's defensive side then and she felt defensive of her now. Vanessa yawned again so Charity decided it was time to cosy up elsewhere.

"Babe we should go to bed" she said softly.

Ness burrowed into her a bit more and mumbled in protest. Apparently, the smaller woman was perfectly comfortable where they were. Charity was three inches taller though and a little too long to spend a night on the sofa, not unless she wanted to wake up in the morning with a bad back.

"You can still wrap yourself around me upstairs" she promised the other woman, "I will just be able to stretch my legs out."

Vanessa shifted again and stretched her limbs out. Charity untangled their legs and swung hers own over the sofa so she could sit up, the other woman following her lead so they were sat next to each other. Vanessa reached out for her glass of untouched wine and drank half of it in one go before putting the glass down. They had barely touched desert having got too lost in one another. Charity didn't mind though...in a choice between the vet's kisses and cheesecake there was only one winner.

"Thank you for tonight…with Johnny and the food" Vanessa said, angling her body in Charity's direction.

She glanced towards the smaller woman, making eye contact with her briefly before looking down. She wasn't used to having someone appreciate her actions, wasn't used to wanting to do something simple and kind for someone that they would appreciate.

"It meant a lot" Vanessa added.

Charity dared to look at Vanessa again and found that the smaller blonde was smiling at her adoringly. The vet stretched out a hand towards her and Charity took it. She wanted to tell Vanessa that she meant a lot. That there was no need to thank her for something that had given her pleasure. That she'd missed her and wanted to spend more nights like this…maybe every night. The words didn't seem to want to come though so she settled for safer ground.

"Come on you sap" Charity chuckled, "it's an early night for me and you."

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End file.
